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The Scottish Tournament is a two week, three venue medieval jousting extravaganza organised
by the National Trust for Scotland and the Royal Armouries Museum, and it’s the first competitive tournament to take place in Scotland since 1839. Valiant men on dashing steeds charging at each other with sharp pointy sticks - hurrah! Who says chivalry is dead?
I Ctl/Zeal.‘ Castle. Ayrshire. Sat 76—Sun 77 July; the Museum of Scott/sh Country Life. East Katy/tie. Sat 23—Sun 24 July; House of Binns. West Lothian. Sat 30—Sun 37 July: For more l/7fO go to wwwntsorguk or call 0870 7 78 7937.
Talks
Fruitmarket Gallery Director’s Talk Fruitmarket Gallery. 45 Market Street. 225 2383. 6pm. Free. Fiona Bradley examines the theory of ‘objective chance'.
Friday 8
Activities 8 Events
Summer Nights at the Observatory Royal Observatory Visitor Centre. Blackford Hill. 668 8404. 7 8.45pm. £3.50 l£2.50l; fainin ticket £9. View images of the sun using the Royal Observatory 's solar telescopes. Keep your eyes peeled l'or sunspots. check ottt the observatory 's meteorite collection and find out where to look for Saturn and Jupiter. Booking essential.
Saturday 9
Fairs
The Leith Market Commercial Quay. Ocean Drive. 467 9422. .-\ pertnanent market with food. fashion. design. antiques. furniture. books and music doon at the docks.
Food 8 Drink
Edinburgh Farmers’ Market Castle 'l‘errace. 652 5940. 9am 2pm. Due to the fren/ied desire of lidinburghers to fill their cupboards with local. quality. ethical produce. the Castle 'l‘erracc markets are now a weekly institution.
Activities 8 Events
* Lothian Conservation Volunteers: Bawsinch Vegetation Control Bawsineh Nature Rescue. base of Arthur's Seat. 337 0223. 9.30am. Free. For more information go to w w w.lcv.org.uk. Filmhouse Movie Quiz Filmhouse Cafe Bar. 88 Lothian Road. 229 5932. 9pm. Test your filtn know ledge at this phenomenally successful and unique montth filtn quix. 'lt‘tillis of up to eight must be scaled by 9pm.
Fairs
Scotfairs Antique Fair Meadow bank Shorts ('cntre. w London Road. 01764 654555. l0am 4,30pm. £l ll‘reel. Browse stalls laden with jewellery. coins. linen. medals and antiques.
The Leith Market Commercial Quay. Ocean Drive. 467 9422. See Sat 9.
Activities 8 Events
Piranha Poetry Slam (attr- Royal (.Clltll' Bar. In \le ch‘lslci' Street. 557 4792. 9 11.30pm. £2. Sixteen slammers
battle it out to find one eventual winner with all proceeds going to Cancer Research. First come first served. Email ga/deathm hotmail.com.
Talks
Curator’s Talk: Woman with her Throat Cut Dean Gallery. 73 Belford Road. 624 6200. l2.45pm. Free. Patrick lilliot. senior curator at the Gallery of Modern Art. discusses the tnost complicated and macabre of Giacometti‘s surrealist sculptures.
Talks
The Modern Scot: Cultural and Political Nationalism in Scotland Between the Wars Weston Link. Hawthornden Lecture Theatre. National Gallery. the Mound. l2.45pm. Free. Dr Jonathan Blackwood. lecturer in history and theory of art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. looks closely at the Scottish renaissance of the l920s and 30s.
Workshops
* Exploring Sound Phenomena Royal Museum. 2 Chambers Street. 247 4422. 5.30-~-7.30pm. £3. Places are limited so advance booking is necessary. See Hitlist.
The Bongo Social Swing Club The Bongo Club. Moray House. 37 Holyrood Road. 558 7604. 7pm. £4 for one class-£6 for both (£3 for one class—£5 for both). [.earn swing dancing with instructors from the award winning Flyright dance company. The first hour is for beginners. the second for improvers and at 9pm the tutoring ends and social dancing begins. No need to bring a partner.
Wednesday 13
Talks
Curator’s Tour: the Healing Touch National Portrait Gallery. I Queen Street. 624 6200. l2.45pm. Free. An exhibition tour with lmogen Gibbon. senior curator of the Reference Section at the Portrait Gallery.
Activities 8 Events
Big Word Performance Poetry End of Season Special The Tron. 9 Hunter Square. High Street. 07989 508 436. 9pm. £3 (£2 l. The last Big Word installment of the current term sees one of Sydney's ntost popular and prolific poets. Benito di Fort/o, join Luke Wright. lla/el Morrison. David (' Johnson and compere Jenny Lindsay for more titanic word play.
Activities & Events
Summer Nights at the Observatory Royal Observatory Visitor Centre. Blackford Hill. 668 8404. 7—8.45pm. £3.50 (£2.50): family ticket £9. See Fri 8.
Talks
Horatio McCulloch and Highlandism Weston Link. Hawthornden Lecture Theatre. National Gallery. the Mound. l2.45pm. Free. Dr John Morrison. senior lecturer in history of art. University of Aberdeen discusses Horatio McCulloch and the development of a romantic view of the highlands.
Saturday 1 6
Fairs The Leith Market Commercial Quay. Ocean Drive. 467 9422. See Sat 9.
Food 8 Drink Edinburgh Farmers’ Market Castle Terrace. 652 5940. 9am—2pm. See Sat 9.
Soon
Rat Race Various Venues. 08704 103245. Times vary. £25—£80. The urban adventure race retums to Edinburgh. covering a number of different disciplines such as cycling. hiking. running. canoeing and rope travel. See panel. below.
Activities 8 Events
Lothian Conservation Volunteers: Powmill Plantation St Andrew‘s Square. 337 0223. 9.30am. Free. Help to remove ragwort to clear the way for a native tree forest to be planted. For more information go to www.1cv.org.uk. Wheels of Yesteryear Royal Highland Centre. Ingliston. 335 6200. l().30am—4.30pm. £5 (Free). Veteran cars to post war classics. commercials. tractors. stationary engines and lots of other exciting displays.
Fairs The Leith Market Commercial Quay. Ocean Drive. 467 9422. See Sat 9.
Monday 18
Workshops
Mediabase Training Course: Video Camera Operation Edinburgh Mediabase. 25a South West Thistle Street Lane. 220 0220. 6—9pm. £25—£35. Find out how to get the best frotn your camera. or find out how to work one. Canon xl-l camcorders are provided. or bring your own.
Tuesday 19
Talks
Paul Gauguin: Plagiarist or Creator? Weston Link. Hawthornden Lecture Theatre. National Gallery. the Mound. l2.45pm. Free. Belinda Thomson. guest curator and independent art historian. introduces the Gauguin exhibition. focusing on the dispute between Gauguin and fellow artist. Emile Bernard. about the ‘Vision of the Sermon'.
Workshops
The Bongo Social Swing Club the Bongo Club. Moray House. 37 Holyrood Road. 558 7604. 7pm. £4 for one class—£6 for both (£3 for one class—£5 for both). See Tue 12.
Wednesday 20
Talks
The Life and Work of JM Barrie National Portrait Gallery. 1 Queen Street. 624 6200. l2.45pm. Free. Prof Ronnie Jack. honorary fellow, L'niversity of Edinburgh and author of The Road in .\'t't'erluml. discusses the life and work of the Scottish author and playwright
Around Town
Talks
Gallery Talk National Gallery of Scotland. the Mound. 624 6200. 12.45pm. Free. Bill Hare. freelance historian. gives a talk on Alexander Nasmyth's view of Edinburgh. focusing on his 1825 work ‘Princes Street with the Commencement of the Building of the Royal lnstitution'.
alt Nicholas and Alexandra, the Tsar and Tsarina Royal Museum. 2 Chambers Street. 247 4219/4422. L'ntil Sun 30 Oct. Mon & Wed—Sat 10am—5pm; Tue 10am—8pm; Sun noon—5pm. £5 (£4). See Hiltlist.
TEAM EXTREME MOMENTS
Matt Mulderrlg ‘l've been in blizzards. deserts. cliffs, avalanches. marathons but still nothing compares to sailing out in a force ten gale through the night in a 17 foot boat at sea with no radio. Fairly scary at 16 years old. Prayers were said that night and thankfully answered!’
Clare Morrison ‘The exhilaration as I celebrated my birthday backcountry snowboarding trip on Mt Baker. Washington State. US of A. it was phat powder, and I got some great fresh tracks. It was all going good until I had a face plant. which proved to be a chilly surprise as I was topless at the time.‘
Kevin Kealy 'My most extreme moment has got to be the Low Alpine Mountain Marathon Two Day race. I finished 10th with severely blistered feet and double vision from dehydration. There was so little water on the course that at one point I was standing in a loch about 500m by 500m which had completely dried up.’
Lynsey Lawrie ‘Kayaking down seven metre waterfalls on the Kaituna River in New Zealand has to be the all time number one.’
Grigor Wallace ‘Running the Great Glen. unsupported and alone in the dead of winter. Only one or two scary hallucinations and they were not drug induced.‘
I Team Extreme compete in the The Rat Race, various (as yet secret) venues across Edinburgh. Sat 16—Sun 17 July. It costs £25 per person to enter at rookie level and £80 at elite. The first prize is an overseas trip to take part in another adventure race. Go to www.mtraceadventure. com or call 08704 103245.
7—21 .Jul 2005 THE LIST 3‘!